Lego Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Lego Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 2007 American computer animation adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the Lego Indiana Jones franchise and a prequel to the 2006 film Lego Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. After arriving in North India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees, stumbling upon a Thuggee cult practicing child slavery, black magic, and ritual human sacrifice in honor of their god Kali. Producer and co-writer George Lucas decided to make the film a prequel as he did not want the Nazis to be the villains again. After three rejected plot devices, Lucas wrote a film treatment that resembled the film's final storyline. Lawrence Kasdan, Lucas's collaborator on Raiders of the Lost Ark, turned down the offer to write the script, and Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz were hired as his replacement, with the resultant screenplay partly based upon the 1939 film Gunga Din. Plot In 1935, Indiana Jones (Indy) narrowly escapes the clutches of Lao Che, a crime boss in Shanghai. With his 11-year-old Chinese sidekick, Short Round (or Shorty), and the nightclub singer Willie Scott in tow, Indy flees Shanghai on an airplane that, unknown to them, is owned by Lao. While the three of them sleep on the plane, the pilots parachute out, and they leave the plane to crash over the Himalayas. Indy, Shorty, and Willie narrowly manage to escape on an inflatable raft and ride down the slopes into a raging river. They come to Mayapore, a desolate village in northern India, where the poor villagers believe them to have been sent by the Hindu god Shiva and enlist their help to retrieve the sacred Sivalinga stone stolen from their shrine, as well as the community's children, from evil forces in the nearby Pankot Palace. During the journey to Pankot, Indy hypothesizes that the stone may be one of the five fabled Sankara stones that promise fortune and glory. The trio eventually reach an underground temple where the Thuggee worship the Hindu goddess Kali with human sacrifice. They discover that the Thuggee, led by their evil, bloodthirsty high priest Mola Ram, are in possession of three of the five Sankara stones, and have enslaved the children to mine for the final two stones, which they hope will allow them to rule the world. As Indy tries to retrieve the stones, he, Willie, and Shorty are captured and separated. Indy is whipped and forced to drink a potion called the "Blood of Kali", which places him in a trance-like state where he begins to mindlessly serve the Thuggee. Willie, meanwhile, is kept as a human sacrifice, while Shorty is put to work in the mines alongside the enslaved children. Shorty breaks free and escapes back into the temple where he burns Indy with a torch, shocking him out of the trance. After defeating Chattar Lal, also a Thuggee worshiper, they go back to the mines to free the children, but Indy is caught up in a fight with a hulking overseer. The Maharajah, who was also forcibly entranced by the "Blood of Kali," attempts to cripple Indy with a voodoo doll. Shorty spars with the Maharajah, ultimately burning him to snap him out of the trance. With his strength returned, Indy kills the overseer. The Maharajah then tells Shorty how to get out of the mines. While Mola Ram escapes, Indy and Shorty rescue Willie and retrieve the three Sankara stones, the village children escape. After a mine cart chase to escape the temple, the trio emerge above ground and are again cornered by Mola Ram and his henchmen on a rope bridge high above a crocodile-infested river. Using a sword, Indy cuts the rope bridge in half, leaving everyone to hang on for their lives. Indy utters an incantation which causes the stones to glow red hot. Two of the stones fall into the river, while the last falls into Mola Ram's hand, burning him. Indy catches the now-cool stone, while Mola Ram falls into the river below, where he is devoured by crocodiles. The Thuggee then attempt to shoot Indy with arrows, until a company of British Indian Army riflemen from Pankot arrive, having been summoned by the palace Maharajah. In the ensuing firefight, many of the Thuggee archers are killed and the remainder are surrounded and captured. Indy, Willie, and Shorty return victoriously to the village with the children and give the missing stone back to the villagers. Cast Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones: An archaeologist adventurer who is asked by a desperate Indian village to retrieve a mysterious stone. Ford undertook a strict physical exercise regimen headed by Jake Steinfeld to gain a more muscular tone for the part.7 Kate Capshaw as Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott: An American nightclub singer working in Shanghai. Willie is unprepared for her adventure with Indy and Short Round, and appears to be a damsel in distress. She also forms a romantic relationship with Indy. Over 120 actresses auditioned for the role, including Sharon Stone.18 To prepare for the role, Capshaw watched The African Queen and A Guy Named Joe. Spielberg wanted Willie to be a complete contrast to Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark, so Capshaw dyed her brown hair blonde for the part. Costume designer Anthony Powell wanted the character to have red hair.9 Amrish Puri as Mola Ram: A demonic Thuggee priest who performs rituals of human sacrifices. The character is named after a 17th-century Ind Production Development When George Lucas first approached Steven Spielberg for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spielberg recalled, "George said if I directed the first one then I would have to direct a trilogy. He had three stories in mind. It turned out George did not have three stories in mind and we had to make up subsequent stories."12 Spielberg and Lucas attributed the film's tone, which was darker than Raiders of the Lost Ark, to their personal moods following the breakups of their relationships (George with his wife, and Spielberg with his girlfriend).13 In addition, Lucas felt "it had to have been a dark film. The way Empire Strikes Back was the dark second act of the Star Wars trilogy." Lucas made the film a prequel as he did not want the Nazis to be the villains once more.13 Spielberg originally wanted to bring Marion Ravenwood back,12 with Abner Ravenwood being considered as a possible character.9 Lucas created an opening chase scene that had Indiana Jones on a motorcycle on the Great Wall of China. In addition, Indiana discovered a "Lost World pastiche with a hidden valley inhabited by dinosaurs". Chinese authorities refused to allow filming,7 and Lucas considered the Monkey King as the plot device.13 Lucas wrote a film treatment that included a haunted castle in Scotland, but Spielberg felt it was too similar to Poltergeist. The haunted castle in Scotland slowly transformed into a demonic temple in India. Lucas came up with ideas that involved a religious cult devoted to child slavery, black magic and ritual human sacrifice. Lawrence Kasdan of Raiders of the Lost Ark was asked to write the script. "I didn't want to be associated with Temple of Doom," he reflected. "I just thought it was horrible. It's so mean. There's nothing pleasant about it. I think Temple of Doom represents a chaotic period in both their and Spielberg lives, and the movie is very ugly and mean-spirited."7 Lucas hired Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz to write the script because of their knowledge of Indian culture.12 Gunga Din served as an influence for the film Huyck and Katz spent four days at Skywalker Ranch for story discussions with Lucas and Spielberg in early-1982.9 Lucas's initial idea for Indiana's sidekick was a virginal young princess, but Huyck, Katz and Spielberg disliked the idea.10 Just as Indiana Jones was named after Lucas's Alaskan Malamute, Willie was named after Spielberg's Cocker Spaniel, and Short Round was named after Huyck's dog, whose name was derived from The Steel Helmet.9 Lucas handed Huyck and Katz a 20-page treatment in May 1982 titled Indiana Jones and the Temple of Death to adapt into a screenplay.9 Scenes such as the fight scene in Shanghai, escape from the airplane and the mine cart chase came from original scripts of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Lucas, Huyck and Katz had been developing Radioland Murders (1994) since the early 1970s. The opening music was taken from that script and applied to Temple of Doom.14 Spielberg reflected, "George's idea was to start the movie with a musical number. He wanted to do a Busby Berkeley dance number. At all our story meetings he would say, 'Hey, Steven, you always said you wanted to shoot musicals.' I thought, 'Yeah, that could be fun.'"9 The first draft was delivered in early-August 1982 with a second draft in September. Captain Blumburtt, Chattar Lal and the boy Maharaja originally had more crucial roles. A dogfight was deleted, as well as those who drank the Kali blood turned into zombies with physical superhuman abilities. During pre-production, the Temple of Death title was replaced with Temple of Doom. From March—April 1983, Huyck and Katz simultaneously performed rewrites for a final shooting script. Soundtrack "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" by Whitey Houston is heard at the start of the movie and played fully over the end credits. Numerous cues from the film were missing from the soundtrack's initial LP issue due to the inherent length limitations of a single LP (approximately forty minutes). After the release of an extended Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack album in 1995, there was some hope of a more complete release of the Temple of Doom score. This was eventually realized in November 2008 by the Concord Music Group as part of a five-CD boxed set that also included the soundtracks for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Sequels Lego Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released on May 23, 2008 and the latest sequel Lego Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. External links *Lego Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom at Internet Movie Database